a white paper on energy and fuels: strengths and voids in

A White Paper on

Energy and Fuels:

Strengths and Voids in the

Viterbi School of Engineering

May 2007

2

Table of Contents

A. Background and Issues……………………………………………………. 3

B. How Do non-VSoE USC Academic Units

Position in the Energy Area?........................................................................ 5

C. How Does VSoE Position in the Energy Area?........................................... 6

C1. VSoE’s Existing Strengths……………………………………........... 6

C1.1 Air Pollution and Environment……………………………….. 7

C1.2 Combustion Physics and Chemistry……………………........... 10

C1.3 Fuel Processing………………………………………….......... 14

C1.4 Large-Scale Simulations of Energy-Related Problems……….. 15

C1.5 Oil and Gas Recovery………………………………………… 17

C1.6 Power Production and Utilization…………………………….. 18

C1.6.1 Clean Renewable Energy Generation…………………19

C1.6.2 Efficient Energy Utilization ……………………….… 20

C1.6.3 Fuel Cells…………………………...………………… 23

C1.6.4 Internal Combustion Engines, Control Systems,

and Pulsed Power…………………………………….. 24

C1.6.5 Micro-Scale Power Generation and Propulsion……… 26

C2. VSoE’s Voids……………………………………............................... 27

C2.1 Nuclear Energy and Related Materials ………..…………….. 27

C2.2 CO2 Sequestration………..…………………………….……... 27

C2.3 Energy Storage and Management.………..……………….….. 27

C2.4 Hydrogen Production and Utilization………..……………….. 28

C2.5 Utilization of Renewable Energy………..……………………. 28

C3. Funding Sources ………………...………………............................... 30

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A. Background and Issues The abundance of oil supply and the attendant low prices have been the main

reasons behind past policies that did not pay close attention to the serious problems

that the world is facing at present. During the last 20 years or so, various

administrations felt that energy and related issues were not to attract as much

interest compared to the emerging “info”, “bio”, and “nano” technologies.

Research and potential advancements towards new technologies that could result

in, for example:

• energy conservation;

• reduction of emissions of hazardous pollutants;

• reduction of carbon dioxide emissions;

• more efficient oil recovery;

• production and utilization of alternative fuels;

• oil-independence;

• improvements of nuclear energy production and waste treatment;

• advancements in solar and wind energy technologies;

• improved energy storage and management;

• alternative (to the combustion engine) energy conversion devices;

have not been at the top of the priority list of government budgets. This is

supported by the fact that funding in these areas was notably-to-severely cut or

entirely eliminated towards the end of last century in agencies like DoE, NASA,

DoD, and EPA to name a few. It is surprising that administrations did not consider

what would be the near- and long-term effects of:

• the instability in the Middle-East;

• the economic growth of China and India, who do and will need the same oil

that the rest of world needs;

• air pollution;

• the serious, by all measures, indications that global warming is happening.

The reduced funding in energy-related disciplines had a major impact on academic

research. Several researchers realigned their activities in different directions. As a

result, much expertise was lost and the interest from graduate students to pursue

such careers was diminished. Within this funding environment, however, a

number of leading US Universities have already identified the role that energy will

play during the 21st century and have established initiatives even before the current

crisis became apparent to the world. This proactive approach was based on the

accurate assessment that and energy (fuel) crisis is about to occur and will be here

to stay regardless of the fluctuations in oil prices and availability. Additional

factors were the environmental impacts of energy conversion processes, mainly

combustion. For example, MIT has notable activities in energy economics since

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the 1970’s and in environmental economics since the 1990’s. Stanford established

a Global Climate and Energy Project in 2002 and has already attracted major

funding from Exxon-Mobil, General Electric, Schlumberger, and Toyota. Other

academic institutions followed. For example, Chevron-Texaco is supporting

“green” energy technologies at UC Davis. Only few weeks ago, a "strategic

partnership" was announced between British Petroleum (BP), U. C. Berkeley, the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Lawrence Berkeley National

Laboratory for biofuel research, with a total commitment by BP of half a billion

dollars!

In 2005 USC established the Future Fuels and Energy Initiative (FFEI) aiming at

reducing the reliance on fossil fuels. At this point, it appears that most major

energy-related companies have committed to other academic institutions that have

started this process earlier. USC needs to capitalize on its strength and focus on

niche areas that one hand will be unique and on the other will be able to attract the

attention of major foundations, industry, and the government both at the state and

federal levels.

Among all USC academic units, the Viterbi School of Engineering (VSoE) can

play a central role towards the success of the University’s initiative in the area of

energy. This is because the VSoE can bridge the gap between pure science and

applications by advancing and implementing the science that is required to solve

the very difficult problems that the world is facing, namely to conserve, to notably

increase the efficiency of energy conversion processes, to produce “green” energy

from renewable sources, and to achieve energy independence. These ideas have

been around for the best part of last century but it is clear that scientists have not

been able to break certain barriers and result in breakthroughs. One can only recall

the efforts in the area of nuclear fusion that despite the excitement and enormous

potential has been a disappointment. Similar comments can be made regarding the

failure to achieve breakthroughs in solar and wind energy utilization, both being

the most “green” and environmentally benign types of energy.

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B. How Do non-VsoE USC Academic Units Position in

the Energy Area? USC has established activities in the area of energy. Such activities can be found

mainly in the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences (College), the Viterbi School

of Engineering (VSoE), and the School of Policy, Planning, and Development

(SPPD). Energy-related activities may be also found in the Keck School of

Medicine, the Marshall School of Business, and the School of Architecture.

The contributions of the College are mainly on fundamental chemical and

biological processes that could be used in energy production. For example, there

are major activities on fuel cells based on methanol (Olah and Prakash), microbial

fuel cells (Nealson) that could utilize biomass and waste. There are also notable

research activities in carbon-based fuels and new energy resources (e.g., Haw,

Jung, Olah, Periana, Prakash) as well as in solar energy (e.g., Thompson).

SPPD (e.g., Giuliano) contributes to the energy field through METRANS, the

National Center for Transportation Research. The center conducts

interdisciplinary research and its mission is to solve transportation problems of

major metropolitan areas through an integrated approach that draws on the

disciplines of engineering, policy, planning, public administration, science and

business.

The School of Architecture activities include research and realized projects in

solar, zero-fossil-energy, passive, low-energy, and plus-energy buildings,

sustainable urban re-development, and experimental solar architecture (e.g.

Spiegelhalter).

The Keck School of Medicine activities are focused mainly on the health effects

produced by energy conversion processes, such as internal combustion engines

(e.g., Gauderman and coworkers).

The Marshall School of Business has the expertise to address a variety of issues

related to the economics, marketing, and management of energy.

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C. How Does VSoE Position in the Energy Area? Among all USC academic units, the VSoE appears to play a more profound role in

the energy discipline by promoting both science and technology development.

There is large number of faculty that is involved with notable research funding

from both the industry and the government. While the VSoE has specific

strengths, as it will be outline below, there are also voids that need to be filled. It

is also apparent that the research activities are largely of single- or two-PI type and

that no larger research teams have been successful in pursuing major energy-

related funding through multidisciplinary proposals across engineering or across

the University. A notable exception to this is the recently awarded MURI on

microbial fuel cells that involves several faculty members from the VSoE.

However, the MURI is lead by the College. Additionally, it does not appear that

any effort has been made to involve non-traditional (in terms of energy) disciplines

that exist in ISI, EE, and CS in energy-related efforts. And those disciplines

involve faculty and centers of very high national and international visibility.

C1. VSoE’s Existing Strengths Based on faculty’s expertise, research interests, and funding that has been

generated over a period of time, the strengths of VSoE in the area of energy can be

grouped under the following six areas:

1. Air Pollution and Environment

2. Combustion Physics and Chemistry

3. Fuel Processing

4. Large-Scale Simulations of Energy-Related Problems

5. Oil and Gas Recovery

6. Power Production and Utilization

Descriptions of the ongoing research activities in each area are summarized below:

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C1.1 Air Pollution and Environment Research in this area is mainly performed in:

• The Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (AME)

• The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

• The Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials

Science (ChEMS)

• The Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

(ISE)

Current ongoing research is supported by:

1. California Air Resources Board (CARB)

2. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

3. METRANS Transportation Center

4. National Institute of Health (NIH)

5. South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD)

6. Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP)

Health Effects of Air Pollutants (C. Sioutas/CEE)

Within CEE, one of our major thrust areas in the area of energy-related research is

the field of air pollution. The major objective is to investigate the underlying

mechanisms that produce the health effects associated with exposure to air

pollutants generated by a variety of sources, such as traffic (including light and

heavy duty vehicles, natural gas buses, and biodiesel vehicles), harbor and airport

operations, power plants, and photo-chemically induced atmospheric reactions.

The focus is on particulate matter (PM) and its gaseous precursors in the

atmosphere and the goal is to understand how toxic mechanisms and resulting

health effects attributable to these air pollutants vary with their source, chemical

composition and physical characteristics. This work has been motivated by the

emerging scientific literature liking mortality and morbidity to exposure to PM.

These efforts are funded by EPA, NIH, CARB, and AQMD.

Heterogeneous Chemistry (Including Mercury) and Dynamics of Particles and

Aerosols (D. Phares, H. Wang/AME).

USC’s existing expertise in this area applied to focus on the specific compounds of

relevance to air pollution. Sophisticated instrumentation is available to determine

the size and chemical composition of particles in real-time. This instrumentation

involves sampling aerosols using inertial or electrostatic separation and measuring

the composition using mass spectrometry, ion mobility spectrometry or both in

series. Heterogeneous chemistry can be monitored using a flow reactor, following

the evolution of specific compounds. This approach is commonly employed to

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determine particle formation rates from organic compounds and gas-phase reaction

rates. The aerosol mobility/mass spectrometer can be used to determine chemical

composition at a specific source. This feature may be relevant to determining the

phase and oxidation state of mercury or other compounds emitted at a specific

source. Also, the reaction kinetics of ambient aerosols (e.g., NaCl, Na2CO3, soot)

with trace gaseous air pollutants (OH and HNO3) can be studied using ESEM/EDX

and FTIR techniques. Surface reaction probabilities can be obtained by detailed

analysis of diffusion-kinetic coupling using analytical techniques as well as the

Monte Carlo approach. Moreover, in addition to the chemistry of particles,

understanding the dynamics of aerosols (including adhesion, resuspension and

transport) is critical to developing inlets for aerosol analyzers, whereby particles

must be stripped from a gas for subsequent chemical analysis. Tools available for

such studies include optical particle counters, condensation particle counters,

aerosol generation equipment, an atomic force microscope and a variety of

computational tools. Unified theories are currently being developed for particle

mass, energy and momentum accommodation. This work is supported by CARB

and SERDP.

CO2 Sequestration in Saline Aquifers (K. Jessen/ChEMS)

Within ChEMS, start-up government funding has been provided to investigate the

sequestration of CO2 in saline aquifers. Saline aquifers provide significant storage

volume for reducing emissions of anthropologically generated CO2 (from fossil

fuel). In the context of geological sequestration, it is important to understand the

time scales associated with the mechanisms that aid the immobilization of injected

CO2. In this research project, the time scales for capillary entrapment of CO2 in

saline aquifers are investigated and the goal is to develop new and accurate models

for predicting amounts and rates of entrapment of CO2 in brine systems under

counter-current conditions.

Life-Cycle Environmental Impacts of Fuel Production and Distribution Systems

(M. Rahimi/ISE)

Within ISE, ongoing research work involves the modeling and measurement of the

life-cycle environmental impacts of fuel production and distribution systems for a

number of alternative technologies. Data on bio-based fuels, hydrogen from a

number of sources, wind, solar and natural gas are collected and integrated. The

final goal is to identify the alternative fuels and new energy technologies that are

affordable and effective in solving the problem that has been created by the life-

cycle environmental impacts of traditional (fossil-fuel based) energy sources. This

work is funded through METRANS.

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Reducing Life-Cycle Energy, Waste, and Pollution in Construction Industry Using

Contour Crafting (B. Khoshnevis/ISE, M. Rahimi/ISE)

Unlike in manufacturing, the growth of automation in construction has been slow.

A promising new automation approach is Contour Crafting (CC). Developed at

USC, Contour Crafting is a mega-scale fabrication process aiming at automated

construction of whole structures as well as subcomponents. Using this technology,

a single house or a colony of houses may be constructed automatically in a single

run with all plumbing and electrical utilities imbedded in each house; yet each

could be a different design. The immediate implication is especially profound for

emergency shelter and low income housing construction.

The energy used in built structures is 40% of total US energy consumption and an

average American home generates 4-7 tons of construction waste. CC has the

potential for significantly reducing this energy usage by revolutionizing the way

structures are built. This research attempts to document that in addition to much

reduced energy cost of construction, a structure build with CC could have a

significantly less energy demand, material waste, transportation demand, and better

recycling potential in its entire life cycle than comparable structures build with

traditional methods. Life-cycle energy use models will be designed to capture the

CC equipment manufacturing, transport, and on site use of energy. These models

will be extended to include the utilization phase of the structure throughout its

useful life. We will include the demolition and recycling of the CC material and

compare the entire life-cycle energy use with the traditional construction methods.

The same analysis will include the amount of material waste in different phases

and will include multiple material compositions and cement additives currently

under investigation. Any reduction in these variables will translate to its

correspondent reductions in energy generation, GHG, criteria pollutants, hazardous

materials, and resource depletion potential.

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C1.2 Combustion Physics and Chemistry Research in this area is mainly performed in:



Science (ChEMS)


1. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)

2. California Energy Commission (CEC)

3. Department of Defense (DoD)

4. Department of Energy (DoE)

5. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

6. USC’s FFEI

The utilization of fossil fuels in combustion engines accounts roughly for the 85-

90% production of the world power. Reducing that percentage by, say, 10 or 20%

points is not a feasible proposition for the immediate or foreseeable future. This

does not only stem from where science and technology is today to handle it but

also from the fact that economies cannot afford such rapid transitions and would

collapse. One of the main reasons for this is the clear advantage of the internal

combustion engine (ICE) over other alternatives based on: (1) the power output per

unit weight or unit volume of the engine, (2) the energy per unit weight or unit

volume of liquid hydrocarbon fuels, (3) the distribution and handling convenience

of liquids, and (4) the relative safety of hydrocarbons compared to, say, hydrogen

or nuclear energy. At the same time ICEs operate at an efficiency level anywhere

from 25-35% and they produce emissions that can have devastating effects on the

environment, humans, animals, and plants. Advancements in combustion science

and technology are key towards the improvement of the efficiency and the

reduction of the pollutant emissions of fossil fuel burning for the foreseeable

future. Additionally, the discipline of combustion is central in assessing the

performance and environmental effects of using alternative fuels in ICEs.

Within AME (F.N. Egolfopoulos, P.D. Ronney, H. Wang), the combustion

processes of conventional and alternative fuels are studied at the fundamental

level. The main goal is to provide understanding into the physical and chemical

mechanisms that control the oxidation of fuels, as well as the interactions between

physical and chemical mechanisms.

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Experiments and Reaction Models of Fundamental Combustion Properties (F.N.

Egolfopoulos, H. Wang/AME)

This research aims to provide insight into the physico-chemical processes that

control the burning behavior of practical fuels that are of relevance to high-speed

air-breathing propulsion. This is achieved through combined experimental and

detailed numerical studies of a number of fundamental combustion properties.

Experimentally, the phenomena of flame ignition, propagation, and extinction as

well as flame structures of systematically chosen fuel/oxidizer mixtures are

considered and characterized. The studies consider both small (gaseous) and large

(liquid) hydrocarbon molecules in view of their importance towards the accurate

description of the combustion behavior of practical fuels. These studies notably

expand the parameter space of existing archival fundamental combustion data, and

are supported by AFOSR.

Development of Detailed and Reduced Kinetic Mechanisms for Surrogates of

Petroleum-Derived and Synthetic Jet Fuels (F.N. Egolfopoulos, H. Wang/AME)

The main goal of this research is to improve our ability to simulate fuel

combustion in air-breathing propulsion devices. The immediate problems that

need to be solved can be grouped into two categories: (1) understanding and

quantifying the combustion properties of practical fuels used in air-breathing

propulsion systems and selection of appropriate surrogate fuels; and (2) developing

reliable detailed reaction models and strategies for model reduction for use in

large-scale simulations. These models could then be used for large-scale, high

fidelity combustion simulations critical to the design and optimization of

propulsion devices. The research concerns two types of jet fuels. The first are

conventional petroleum-derived “reference” JP-8 fuels. The second are non

petroleum-derived or synthetic jet fuels. By considering these two types of fuels,

both short-term (current fuels and systems) and potential long-term (fuel-flexible

energy conversion and design) needs of air-breathing propulsion are addressed.

This work is supported by AFOSR.

Kinetic Mechanisms for Computational Fluid Dynamics (F.N. Egolfopoulos, H.

Wang/AME)

This research pertains to development of reliable kinetics models that describe the

oxidation of JP-7 (a real jet fuel) and the products of its thermal cracking. This

development is based on both fundamental combustion experiments and theoretical

and numerical determination of rate constants for a wide range of chemical

reactions. Such models will be introduced into computational fluid dynamics

(CFD) codes to compute the performance of SCRAMJETS (i.e. supersonic

combustors). At high flight Mach numbers, vehicles are expected to be heated and

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the fuel (JP-7) will be used as coolant. As a result the JP-7 will thermally crack to

smaller hydrocarbons before it enters the combustion chamber. This work is

supported by STTR/DoD.

The Development of Gas Fuel Interchangeability Criteria for Natural Gas-Fired

Combustion Systems (F.N. Egolfopoulos, H. Wang/AME)

This research is on the determination of flame properties for a wide range of

conditions and the development of a combustion reaction model for alternative

fuels, including synthesis gas (syngas), landfill gases, and others. The results are

of importance to power generation both in terms of petroleum-independence as

well as environmental benefits. Combining intelligently performed experiments

and state-of-the-art modeling capabilities of the USC group, the proposed goal can

be largely met and can potentially be the “industry standard” in designing

combustors, addressing issues of fuel interchangeability a priori. This work is

supported by CEC.

Studies of the Combustion Characteristics of Alternative Fuels (Synthetic Fuels

and Biofuels) (F.N. Egolfopoulos/AME, T.T. Tsotsis/ChEMS)

This is a collaborative research and includes chemical kinetics, simulations of

combustion processes, experimental studies of combustion processes, and reaction

engineering relevant to fuel processing. Fundamental combustion experiments and

kinetics modeling are performed in order to gain fundamental understanding of the

chemical and transport phenomena that take place during combustion of alternative

fuels used in transportation and jet propulsion. In addition to expanding a

fundamental knowledge base for alternative fuels, the resulting models will be

incorporated into commercially supported software to allow direct application in

proprietary fuels-development and aircraft engine-research efforts. The work will

generate fundamental surrogate models for combustion of jet fuels, Fischer-

Tropsch fuels, and biofuels; it will result in a novel experimental methodology and

fundamental flame data useful in kinetic model validation; and it will create basic

understanding of fuel-molecule combustion behavior that can be used to

differentiate and design new fuels. This work is supported by DoE, NASA, and

the USC’s FFEI.

Edge Flames (P.D. Ronney/AME)

Flames subject to temporally and spatially uniform hydrodynamic strain are

frequently used to model the local interactions of flame fronts with turbulent flow

fields. The “laminar flamelet” concept presumes that each surface element of the

flame front behaves as though it were a steady isolated front subject to uniform

strain. As a step towards more realistic quantification of strain effects in turbulent

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premixed flames, numerous researchers have studied “edge flames” separating

burning from non-burning regions that may occur at high strain rates where

portions of the flame may be locally extinguished. Experiments on both premixed

and non-premixed flames are being conducted using a novel counterflow slot-jet

anchored-flame burner. The importance of strain rate, heat losses, Lewis number

(Le) and (in non-premixed flames) stoichiometric mixture fraction have been

identified. Due to diffusive-thermal instabilities, cellular flames were observed at

low Le and traveling-wave patterns were observed at high Le. Le effects also led to

the formation of isolated "flame tubes" rather than continuous fronts at sufficiently

low Le and high strain rates. These results indicate that "laminar flamelet" models

of turbulent combustion may not be accurate at conditions approaching those

where local flame quenching occurs, except possibly for single premixed flames

and low-Le twin premixed flames. Improvements to existing turbulent flamelet

libraries for numerical simulation of turbulent flames are being developed. This

work is supported by NASA.

Premixed-Gas Flame Propagation in Hele-Shaw Cells (P.D. Ronney/AME)

Premixed gas flame fronts are subject to a number of instability mechanisms that

affect their propagation rates and shapes via wrinkling. After the instabilities grow

past the linear stage (small-amplitude), the three-dimensional, non-linear nature of

the full Navier Stokes equations renders the resulting flow difficult to model even

with state-of-the-art-computing resources. Consequently, we have performed

experiments in a quasi-2D channel (Hele-Shaw cell) using methane and propane as

fuel and N2 or CO2 as diluents. Upward, downward and horizontal propagation

configurations were tested for varying mixture strengths and thus burning

velocities. In this way the effects of buoyancy, thermal expansion, heat loss and

Lewis number can be studied. Even in the absence of turbulence, flames in these

confined channels propagate at about 3 times the laminar burning velocity

measured in conventional laboratory experiments due to this self-generated flame

wrinkling. Such behavior is observed even for downward propagating (buoyantly

stable) flames have high Le (diffusive-thermally stable) due to the effects of

thermal expansion and viscosity changes across the front. These results indicate

that the behavior of flame propagation in narrow channels such as crevice volumes

in premixed-charge internal combustion engines may be quite different from that

inferred from simple laminar flame experiments. Indeed, most laboratory

experiments are conducted in open geometries such as Bunsen, counterflow or V-

flames, where thermal expansion can be relaxed in the transverse directions,

whereas most practical applications of these experiments are in confined flames

such as internal combustion engines or gas turbines where this relaxation cannot

occur. A particularly noteworthy application of our studies is to crevice volumes

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in internal combustion engines, because flame quenching in crevice volumes is an

important source of unburned hydrocarbon emissions in these engines. This work

is supported by NASA and DoE.

C1.3 Fuel Processing Research in this area is mainly performed in:


Science (ChEMS)



2. National Science Foundation (NSF)

Production of Synthesis Gas and Hydrogen (T.T. Tsotsis, M. Sahimi/ChEMS)

Within ChEMS, ongoing research involves the utilization of membrane and

nanoporous materials technology to produce synthesis gas or hydrogen from a

variety of fuels including coal. Novel reactor technologies are invoked both low

and high temperature. The produced synthesis gas can be used power generation

and hydrogen preferably in fuels cells. These efforts are funded by DoE and NSF.

Enhanced Coalbed Methane Production and CO2 Sequestration (K.

Jessen/ChEMS)

Start-up government funding has also been provided to investigate the enhanced

coalbed methane production and CO2 sequestration. Currently 10% of the US

natural gas production, arise from depletion of unminable coal seams. In these

settings methane is primarily stored in an adsorbed state in the surface of the coal.

Injection of CO2 from power plants or other significant point sources can greatly

improve the recovery of methane from coalbeds. The improvement in recovery is

possible due to the higher affinity of CO2 to adsorb onto the coal surface that in

turn allow for sequestration of significant amounts of CO2. In this research project,

the dynamics of flow and sorption of multicomponent multiphase mixtures

(CO2/CH4/N2/water) in coal are investigated in order to develop accurate models

for predicting the hysteretic behavior frequently observed in these systems based

on experiments and molecular simulation and to investigate efficient methods to

implement these models in larger scale simulations.

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C1.4 Large-Scale Simulations of Energy-Related Problems Research in this area is mainly performed in:


• The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)


Science (ChEMS)



Modeling of Stress Corrosion Cracking (P. Vashishta, R.K. Kalia, A.

Nakano/ChEMS)

To prevent corrosive effects and to predict the lifetime beyond which corrosion

may compromise the safety of nuclear reactors requires that we understand the

mechanisms and conditions influencing initiation, dynamics and growth rates of

corrosion, i.e., all aspects of corrosion dynamics of material surfaces and

interfaces. A critical technology for understanding corrosion dynamics is

predictive mechanistic and atomistic simulation methods that retain chemical

accuracy at macroscopic length and time scales. This project performs peta-scale

type simulations with quantum-level accuracy and accelerated dynamics to study

stress corrosion cracking, which will have significant impacts on safe and reliable

energy and nuclear technologies. This work is supported by DoE.

Simulations of Nanoscale Systems in Extreme Environments (P. Vashishta, R.K.

Kalia/ChEMS)

This project focuses on multiscale simulations of complex nanoparticle composite

systems under extreme environments, with focuses on nanoscale coating materials

in energy technologies. Specifically, the following are investigated: (1)

mechanical stability and pressure-induced structural transformations in core-shell

CdSe/CdS and CdSe/ZnS nanostructures, and (2) hybrid nanostructures comprising

semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dot on self-assembled monolayer coated

semiconductor substrates.

Multi-Scale Modeling of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology Processes (R.

Ghanem/CEE-AME)

It is anticipated that the next few decades will see a rapid surge in the global

demand for energy. A rise in demand in the order of 15-20% has been forecasted

for the coming decade alone. To this end, the oil & gas industry is firmly

searching for new means to answer this growing call to deliver. The challenge

involves among others adding one trillion barrels in new oil discoveries to the

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current world reserve, increasing the incremental recovery rates for existing fields

by 20%, and adding between one and two trillions of (non-conventional) oil to the

total producible global resources. A challenge of this magnitude can only be

approached at new fundamental scales that are untouched before now and met by

revolutionary discoveries in materials science, energy science, and engineering

technology. The promise of nanotechnology provides fertile grounds for much of

the needed breakthroughs. This technology (or school of technologies) allows for

unprecedented control of the material world, at the nano-scale, providing the

means by which systems and materials can be built and understood with exacting

specifications and characteristics. This requires a rather sophisticated modeling

approach given the very large range of scales that are relevant.

Design of Large-Scale Offshore Wind Turbines (R. Ghanem/CEE-AME, S.

Masri/CEE)

Wind energy is one of the “greenest” renewable types of energy that is available.

In various parts of the word (e.g. China and Europe) the efforts to developed new

technologies to capture the wind energy have been intensified. Among the various

options, using large-scale wind turbines at offshore locations is a desirable one.

The span of such turbines can be of the order of 200-300 m, which imposes major

scientific and engineering challenges. The design can be best achieved through the

aid of detailed modeling of the fluid mechanics and materials behavior under

extreme environmental conditions.

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C1.5 Oil and Gas Recovery Research in this area is mainly performed in:


Science (ChEMS) as part of the Petroleum Engineering program

• The Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering (EE)

• The Information Sciences Institute (ISI)


1. Center for Interactive Smart Oilfield Technologies (CiSoft)

Within ChEMS (I. Ershaghi), the research focuses on upstream oil and gas

reservoir and production. More specifically, it involves (1) reservoir

characterization with continuously recorded pressure pulsing, (2) integrated asset

modeling, (3) decision support systems, (4) fracturing optimization, and (5)

wellbore productivity improvement. Furthermore, research is also conducted (P.

Vashishta, R. K. Kalia, A. Nakano) on the integration of high performance

computing into novel history matching and simulation methods to enable a

paradigm shift in oil reservoir management. These efforts are funded by the

Chevron–USC Center for Interactive Smart Oilfield Technologies (CiSoft).

Within EE, CiSoft-related research includes integrated asset management for smart

oil fields (V. Prasanna, R. Raghavendra). The main goal of this project is to assess

service-oriented architectures, grid services and web technologies to develop

software architectures for asset management.

The contributions of ISI in CiSoft include sensor networks, robotics/learning,

hardware, personal safety, and data mining.

USC faculty members that also contribute to various extents to the CiSoft efforts,

include V. Prasanna, J. Mendel, C. Shahbi, U. Neumann, J. Heidemann, B.

Khoshnevis, and K. Jessen.

Additional input from faculty of the Department of Computer Science (CS) in the

CiSoft program could be in the area of robotics.

Finally, there is ongoing research on in-situ combustion for enhanced oil recovery

(T.T. Tsotsis, K. Jessen). It is largely anticipated that unconventional techniques

for enhancing domestic oil and gas production will attract substantial interest over

the next few years.

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C1.6 Power Production and Utilization Research in this area is the broadest one and is performed mainly in:


• The Department of Computer Science (CS).

• The Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering (EE)


Science (ChEMS)

In this area, the following 5 sub-areas have been identified:

1. Clean Renewable Energy Generation

2. Efficient Energy Utilization

3. Fuel Cells

4. Internal Combustion Engines, Control Systems, and Pulsed Power

5. Micro-scale power generation and propulsion



2. CalTrans


4. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)






10. Nissan Corporation

11. NOCO Energy Corporation (NOCO)

12. Office of Naval Research (ONR)

13. Southern California Edison

14. USC’s FFEI

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C1.6.1 Clean Renewable Energy Generation

Solar energy is ultimate source of much of the energy currently used. At present

we mostly use solar energy by burning the fossil fuels it has created over many

millennia. The resultant pollution and political and economic dependencies

created by this approach have caused the impending crisis the world faces in

energy generation and utilization. Direct conversion of solar energy to electricity

is the cleanest form of energy generation currently known. Owing to the

distributed nature of solar energy solar photovoltaic technology affords the

possibility of creating a distributed energy source that is more immune to

interruption by terrorists and natural disaster. Its widespread utilization is

currently inhibited by the cost of photovoltaic cells and the low density of solar

energy. For solar photovoltaic cells to play an important role in our energy future,

there is a need for a low cost, high efficiency solar cell technology. Currently, the

dominant technology for terrestrial solar cells is multicrystalline Si solar cells with

and efficiency of 12-15%. Single crystal cells are available that have efficiencies

greater than 20%. Solar cells used for satellite applications are often made from

GaAs and related materials. A local company has recently demonstrated

efficiencies as high as 40% in multijunction cells based on GaAs. All of these

technologies are too expensive for deployment without subsidization. On the other

hand, low cost thin film technologies have been developed as a possible answer to

this challenge. At present these approaches are too inefficient for economical use.

Nanowire Solar Cells (P.D. Dapkus, C. Zhou, G. Lu/EE)

Research is underway at USC to explore new approaches to energy generation that

is based on emerging nanotechnology. It has the potential for efficient

photovoltaic conversion because it utilizes multiple junction cells designs that

more efficiently utilize the solar spectrum. It has the potential to be inexpensive

because it is based on low temperature processes and can be implemented on

inexpensive substrates. Preliminary research is underway to realize this potential

and a proposal has been submitted to the DoE for funds to support the work.

Organic Solar Cells (C. Zhou/EE, M.E. Thompson/Chem)

Organic photovoltaic cells that utilize heterojunctions between crystalline organic

compounds are thin film devices with the potential for low cost fabrication.

Research is underway at USC to perfect and develop solar cells in this technology.

Thompson has funding from both DoE and DoD to develop these cells. Zhou is

developing new electrodes for the devices using sheets of carbon nanotubes.

Funding for this work is provided by the USC’s FFEI.

20

Photovoltaic Solar Cells (A. Konkar/EE)

This research is focused on photovoltaic solar cells that employ semiconductor

nanocrystals for the absorption of the solar radiation. These nanocrystal quantum

dots act as broadband antenna which results in their electronic excitation. The

nanocrystals subsequently de-excite or relax by the emission of light over a

extremely narrow wavelength range. The emitted nanocrystal radiation is captured

within an optical cavity. The radiation is absorbed within a silicon p-n junction

where it is converted into a photovoltage. The use of an optical cavity will allow

for the employment of Si p-n junctions that are <1/5th the thickness of that used in

conventional Si photovoltaics. The nanocrystals are prepared in the laboratory

using wet chemistry and their structure is analyzed via TEM in CEMMA. The Si

p-n junction and the optical cavity fabrication is being done in the Clean-Room.

Nanotechnology Applied to Catalysis for Hydrogen Production (S. Cronin/EE)

The objective is to study new chemical pathways produced by plasmonic metal

nanostructures on active and non-active catalytic supports by exploiting the high

temperatures, intense electric fields, and enhanced catalytic activity provided by

the surface plasmon resonance. The specific goals are: (1) to demonstrate

improved efficiencies in the photochemical generation of hydrogen from water

using Au nanoparticles on metal oxide catalytic films and (2) to demonstrate the

production of synthetic hydrocarbons (CnH2n+2) from H2 and CO by driving a

Fischer-Tropsch reaction using Au nanoparticles irradiated with visible light.

C1.6.2 Efficient Energy Utilization

Efficient use of energy must be part of future policy and technology choices for the

US and the world. EE is involved in several independent efforts to better utilize

energy in various aspects of human endeavor.

Energy Efficiency in Electronic Systems (M. Pedram/EE)

The goal of this research is to improve energy efficiency of VLSI circuits and

systems. This is important from an economic point of view because about 20% of

the total electric power consumption in the US (which stood at 3.1 quadrillion

BTU in the month of March 2006 alone) is due to the energy requirements of

various consumer electronics, computer systems, monitors, etc. (excludes energy

consumption due to appliances, heating/cooling, and lighting). It is also important

because power density and the resulting heat in integrated circuits tend to limit the

density, performance, and reliability of these circuits. A mere 50% reduction is

energy consumption of various consumer electronics and computer systems will

have significant economic and technological implications. The work has focused

on system-level power management and efficient power distribution in high-end

21

computing systems. Examples of power management work include dynamic

backlight scaling for LCD’s, dynamic voltage and frequency scaling for CPU’s,

power/clock gating, and intelligent shutdown and wakeup policies. Examples of

power distribution work include design of high-efficiency on-chip power

regulation and distribution network, secondary battery modeling and extending

battery lifetime by utilizing battery relaxation techniques. This research is

supported by NSF.

Solid-State Lighting (P.D. Dapkus/EE, C. Zhou/EE, M.E. Thompson/Chem)

Lighting represents a major use of energy in the world. In the US, about 30% of

the energy is used for lighting. At the same time, the most widely used light

source in modern societies is the incandescent bulb that is very inefficient. There

is a growing belief that solid state lighting using light emitting diodes (LEDs) can

alleviate a great deal of the waste in this area. A technological revolution occured

in the 1990's in this area. Blue and green LED's that had not been very efficient

previously were made with a material that resulted in very high efficiency devices

and permitted the manufacture of white light emitting diodes and RGB LEDs that

can produce white light. Stoplights, taillights, score boards and backlights for

LCD displays are now all made with LEDs or shortly will be. Semiconductor

LEDs made by the same materials technology - metalorganic chemical vapor

deposition (MOCVD)- are now the most efficient sources of light known to man.

The key challenge to replacing more conventional light sources is cost reduction.

Right now UCSB is the leading university in solid-state lighting research based on

LEDs. The research in EE in solid-state lighting has involved the development of

MOCVD for the growth of GaN materials used for blue and green LEDs. More

recently, it has explored the use of nanowires for visible LEDs. Many of the same

ideas that make them interesting for solar cells also make nanowires compelling

for a low cost visible LED technology. The possibility to build low cost white

LEDs using engineered nanowire structures is the objective. A proposal has been

submitted to NSF to begin research in this area. Proposals will be submitted to

DoE in the near future. In addition there is emerging an LED technology based on

organic LEDs that will also play a role in future lighting. Professor Mark

Thompson is a world leader in the development of organic LED technology. A

group of active researchers at USC have begun informal discussions of this area of

research towards the goal of establishing a greater visibility in the area.

22

Power Transmission and Security (T.C. Cheng/EE, S. Nutt/ChEMS)

Research to mitigate the effects of natural disasters and terrorism on the electrical

power infrastructure in the US is underway at USC (T.C. Cheng). Four programs

are underway with funding from NSF, Southern California Edison, and CEC.

There are also research efforts on the durability of high-temperature low-sag

conductors, which is of relevance to energy distribution with power lines (S. Nutt).

This work is supported by the Composite Technologies Corporation. The focus is

on long-term durability, and the motivation is to increase the ampacity of the

nation's grid and upgrade the infrastructure for power distribution. An often-

overlooked fact is that the capacity for generating power has grown at a much

greater rate in recent decades than our capacity for DISTRIBUTING power, which

is aging and near capacity. Thus, even if we invent inexpensive, clean energy

tomorrow, we will have a major problem distributing that energy. Adding more

towers is costly, and acquiring rights of way is just not possible in many locations,

so we need to be more innovative in how we transmit power. The major limiting

factor today is operating temperature and the sag associated with high currents and

temperatures. The technology that is developed involves composite supported

conductors, which exhibit negligible sag at high temperatures and thus carry more

current. More important, however, is that existing lattice towers can support them.

Sensors and Wireless Networks for Monitoring and Control of Energy Systems (R.

Govindan, J. Heidemann, B. Krishnamachari, U. Mitra, G. Sukhatme, W. Ye)

Dense sensing and actuation can greatly increase the spatio-temporal accuracy of

energy utilization monitoring and control, both in the distribution system as well as

at the end-user. Wireless sensor/actuator systems are increasingly becoming a

reality, and energy conservation applications are often cited as being the killer

application for this technology. For example, this technology will enable smart

buildings that intelligently control lighting and heating, significantly reducing the

operational cost of large industrial structures.

USC has a strong presence in this area. Our faculty are involved in developing and

analyzing theory and models for sensing and communication (Krishnamachari,

Mitra), developing sensor systems and related software technology (Govindan,

Heidemann, Ye), and designing actuation systems (Sukhatme). Our faculty is also

involved in collaborations exploring the application of this technology to a variety

of areas: marine and environmental monitoring (Sukhatme), underwater sensing

(Heidemann, Mitra, Ye), oilfield monitoring (Heidemann, Ye), structural and

geophysical monitoring (Govindan, Krishnamachari, Sukhatme), and so on. These

efforts are funded by NSF and CiSoft.

23

C1.6.3 Fuel Cells

Micro Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells (P.D. Ronney/AME)

High-energy efficiency and energy density, together with rapid re-fuelling

capability, render fuel cells highly attractive for portable power generation.

Accordingly, polymer-electrolyte Direct Methanol Fuel Cells are of increasing

interest as possible alternatives to Li ion batteries. However, such fuel cells face

several design challenges and cannot operate with hydrocarbon fuels of higher

energy density. Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) enable direct use of higher

hydrocarbons, but have not been seriously considered for portable applications

because of thermal management difficulties at small scales, slow start-up and poor

thermal cyclability. A thermally self-sustaining micro-SOFC stack with high

power output and rapid start-up by using single chamber operation (which greatly

reduces thermal cycling issues) using propane fuel has been demonstrated. A

spiral counterflow “Swiss roll” heat exchanger and reactor maintains the fuel cells

at the required 500–600 oC using thermal energy produced by the oxidation

reactions. Power densities of over 400 mW/cm2 have been obtained. This research

is supported by DARPA.

Microbial Fuel Cells (K. Nealson/GeoBio, S. Finkel/MolCompBio, F.

Mansfeld/ChEMS, S. Prakash/Chem, P.D. Ronney/AME, H. Wang/AME)

The development of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) represents an area of immense

potential – the conversion of complex and impure organic fuel sources electrical

energy. The potential of MFCs remains unrealized, because of their historically

low power densities. This Multi-University Research Initiative (MURI) project

tackles the problem of low power density by addressing the following fundamental

problems: (1) understanding the microbial mechanisms whereby electron transport

to solid electrode surfaces occurs, (2) interfacing these microbial catalysts with

proper MFC design to optimize power production under widely varying conditions,

(3) understanding, manipulating, and improving the microbial communities to

obtain those most capable of converting complex and variable organic carbon

sources into electrical energy. The solutions to these problems require constant

interfaces with electrochemistry, engineering, physics, and modeling. A challenge

to the group that focuses the efforts is a self-propelled MFC. This MURI effort is

funded by AFOSR.

Blood Fuel Cells (F. Mansfeld/ChEMS)

The main goal of this research is the development of a low-power implantable

energy source that uses glucose in the human blood as the fuel, resulting thus in a

blood fuel cell (BFC) that is also a low-power source. This work is supported by

NOCO.

24

C1.6.4 Internal Combustion Engines, Control Systems, and Pulsed Power

Throttleless Premixed-Charge Engines (P.D. Ronney/AME)

Conventional premixed-charge spark-ignition engines employ a throttle to reduce

power and torque when demand is low by reducing the pressure of the combustible

mixture drawn into the cylinder. This results in the well-known “throttling loss.”

Under typical highway cruising conditions, this loss is typically 15% or more of

the otherwise available power output of the engine. This loss leads to reduced fuel

economy and increased pollutant emissions. An engine control concept has been

developed, called the Throttleless Premixed Charge Engine (TPCE), which

provides the necessary range of power and torque adjustment without throttling by

using a combination of lean mixture and intake air preheat to adjust torque. Higher

intake temperatures reduce the air density and thus power and torque. Leaner

mixtures also reduce power and torque, and the intake air-preheat substantially

reduces the lean misfire limit. Thus, in the TPCE concept the synergistic use of

preheating and lean mixtures is essential; neither technique individually provides a

sufficient range of power and torque adjustment for use in practical motor vehicles.

The TPCE concept is ideal for vehicle applications because vehicles are constantly

changing load and speed, and are only infrequently operated at wide-open throttle.

In this sense the TPCE concept provides many of the best aspects of premixed-

charge, spark-ignition engines (fast response time, high power to weight ratio, and

negligible particulate emissions) with the best aspect of nonpremixed-charge

compression-ignition (Diesel-type) engines (higher part-load thermal efficiency

due to lean operation without a pressure-reducing throttle). For these reasons the

TPCE concept is equally applicable to light-duty vehicles as well as heavy-duty

trucks and buses. This work is supported by the AQMD and CalTrans.

25

Pulsed Power for Fusion Research (M.A. Gundersen/EE)

Pulsed power is an area primarily in the DoD and DoE sectors, and has numerous

applications to energy. Fusion

research has critical issues for

switching and energy storage,

for example, which require basic

pulsed power innovation. For

example, in the best-known

picture from pulsed power (a

photograph of water-based

energy storage and switching

technology in the Sandia Z

Machine for fusion research),

the size and some of the issues

related to practical implementations are apparent in the photograph. In comparison

to the pulsed power, the fusion part is about the size of a human forearm. USC’s

program in pulsed power is a leading effort in the US and the world.

Energy, and Ignition, Combustion and Pollution Research Utilizing Pulsed Power

(M.A. Gundersen/EE, P.D. Ronney/AME)

Pulsed Power is basic to energy projects in most national laboratories for

applications including fusion research and high-energy physics. Gundersen has

conducted research that is energy related since the 1970s, beginning with laser

isotope separation programs in collaboration with Los Alamos National

Laboratory. As indicated in the graphic above (of the Sandia Z machine), pulsed

power issues are very important for practical implementation. Transient plasmas,

which occur in nanoseconds, are being investigated for detonation and flame

ignition. For example, recently reductions up to factors of 10 in delays to

detonation for pulse detonation engines, and other effects, have been achieved with

low energy transient plasma ignition. Validation includes testing at the Naval

Postgraduate School Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, Stanford and Wright-

Patterson Air Force Research Laboratory. Experiments have been now conducted

for applications of this technology to internal combustion engines, working with

Nissan to use this technology with the main goal being to reduce emissions.

Transient plasma processes, enabled by pulsed power engineering, will have

significant impact on engine and emissions technologies, and it is expected that the

systems engineered approach, based in pulsed power engineering, will allow to

achieve this goal. Pollution emissions reduction of particulates and NOx targets

include jet turbine engines, diesel engines, HCCI internal combustion engines, and

26

others. This research is funded by ONR, AFOSR/SBIR, AFOSR/STTR,

METRANS, AFOSR, and Nissan.

C1.6.5 Micro-Scale Power Generation and Propulsion (P.D. Ronney/AME)

It is known that the use of combustion processes for electrical power generation

provides enormous advantages over batteries in terms of energy storage per unit

mass and in terms of power generation per unit volume, even when the conversion

efficiency in the combustion process from thermal energy to electrical energy is

taken into account. For example, hydrocarbon fuels provide an energy storage

density between 40 and 50 MJ/kg, whereas even modern lithium ion batteries

commonly used in laptop computers provide only 0.4 MJ/kg. Thus, even at only

5% conversion efficiency from thermal to electrical energy, hydrocarbon fuels

provide about 5 times higher energy storage density than batteries. Recently much

attention has been focused on the application of MEMS devices to the production

of electrical power, so-called "Power MEMS" devices, typically in applications

where batteries are currently used. Many groups involved in Power MEMS are

investigating scaled-down versions of well-established macro-scale combustion

devices (internal combustion engines, gas turbines, pulsed combustors, etc.) but

because of heat losses, friction losses and manufacturing limitations such devices

have not yet proved practical. At USC two Power MEMS system concepts based

on devices having no moving parts, specifically (1) thermoelectric elements and

(2) solid oxide fuel cells, are being developed. Also, catalytic combustion driven

thermal transpiration pumps are being used to provide pumping of reactants in

power generators as well as the core of microscale propulsion systems, in both

cases with no moving parts. This research is supported by DARPA and NASA.

27

C2. VSoE’s Voids Many important disciplines within the general area of energy are satisfactorily

covered by existing VSoE activities and faculty. However, there are some notable

voids that could be considered as potential targets of growth and which could

enhance the role of VSoE’s in energy, as shown below:

C2.1 Nuclear Energy and Related Materials It is anticipated that nuclear energy will be back given that it does not contribute to

global warming and does not emit pollutants, as for example do combustion

processes. At the same time there are many issues associated with its use, with the

main ones being safety and nuclear waste disposal. While it is unrealistic to

assume that a nuclear reactor would be part of the on-campus activities, there are

many topics of research that could be addressed. Those include nuclear

engineering, materials, and explosions that could occur in nuclear facilities. While

nuclear engineering expertise does not exist in VSoE, the areas of materials and

reacting flows (explosions) could be involved in such initiatives.

C2.2 CO2 Sequestration In the other end of the spectrum, compared to nuclear energy, the burning of fossil

fuels and biofuels for that matter, are a reality and will be around for a long time.

Thus, CO2 will be emitted and its presence in the atmosphere will be one of the

major factors contributing towards global warming. Although there are some

activities in ChEMS and also outside VSoE (Department of Marine Biology), more

needs to be done towards this very important goal of trapping CO2 downstream of

combustion processes. This will require intensified efforts based on existing

expertise in AME and ChEMS.

C2.3 Energy Storage and Management This is also a very important topic given that enhancing the capabilities in energy

storage and management could have major impact on the energy production and

utilization. This could reduce the cost of energy as well as its environmental

effects. Energy storage is mainly considered to be an issue for electrical energy,

which is typically used at the same rate that is produced. Batteries are key in this

area and it is known that existing technologies are not yet as advanced to partially

solve the energy problem. Batteries can be viewed from a large- or small-scale

point of view. While large-scale is of relevance to energy storage for buildings and

communities, small-scale relates to electric cars. While, the future of electric car at

present is debatable because the electricity is largely “non-green,” future advances

28

in solar, wind, and nuclear technologies could make the use of electric car mostly

advantageous.

An additional component to energy storage that is typically not mentioned is the

ability to effectively store hydrogen, whose significance will be discussed next.

Hydrogen is the lightest of all elements and its storage poses a major problem.

VSoE can encourage activities in the area of materials, as it is known that under

certain conditions solids can adsorb hydrogen, forming thus the so-called hydrides

that constitute a very effective means of storage. Then, under a different set of

conditions the hydrogen could be desorbed from the solid and used in a variety of

applications.

C2.4 Hydrogen Production and Utilization The last several years, there have been significant initiatives towards the so-called

hydrogen economy. The US Government has also presented this as a very

important target. While this appears to be a logical direction to follow given the

excellent properties of hydrogen as fuel (best efficiency and least pollutant

emissions), no too many appear to consider hydrogen as nearly equivalent to

electricity. Hydrogen is rather expensive to produce and isolate, and very hard to

store. It has to be also realized that in order for its production to be

environmentally benign, it must be produced through electrolysis using electrical

energy produced by utilizing solar, wind, or nuclear energies. In anticipation of

advances in these areas, the technologies associated with the subsequent utilization

and use of hydrogen need to be researched. Most likely hydrogen will be used in

fuel cells rather than internal combustion engines as some suggest.

C2.5 Utilization of Renewable Energy Most of the world’s energy needs are currently met through the combustion of

fossil fuels. With projected increases in global energy needs, more sustainable

methods for energy production will need to be developed, and production of

greenhouse gases will need to be reduced. Thus, there will be research

opportunities in types of energy that are environmentally friendly and renewable.

Renewable energy can be largely derived from sunlight, wind, and biomass.

Hydrogen and alcohols are potential energy carriers that can be derived from

renewable sources.

Wind power is a source of electrical energy that appears to grow. There are issues

associated with wind energy utilization, such as for example the fundamental

29

knowledge of the interaction of wind with the blade structure that could affect the

turbine efficiency.

Photovoltaic devices have the potential to supply a significant electrical energy.

Although silicon-based materials have been most widely used, other

semiconducting materials and titanium dioxide also have potential.

Biomass is available from agricultural crops and residues, forest products, aquatic

plants, and municipal wastes. Biomass can be a source of liquid, solid, and

gaseous fuels including biofuels such as ethanol. However, converting biomass to

either liquid or gaseous fuels that subsequently burn requires energy. In these

early stages of such assessments, it is essential that all possibilities are rigorously

explored and weighted. Among them is the direct utilization of biomass burning

without conversion to other fuel forms. Such approach is of relevance in two

important areas. The first is the advancement of technologies that will allow for

the efficient and environmentally acceptable utilization of biomass for power

generation in developed countries. The second, and most important, is to provide

the understanding that is necessary to significantly improve the biomass utilization

in under-developed countries, which on one hand will benefit the environment and

on the other will aid the development of those poor economies. It is essential to

note that nearly 3.4 billion, chiefly rural, people live in poverty and burn largely

biomass to meet their energy needs (e.g., South East Asia and sub-Sahara). This is

because burning is a simple method of energy production and there is no access to

any alternative technology that could chemically process biomass to other fuel

types. Biomass burning under such conditions is neither optimum nor benign to

the environment at both local and global scales. Advancing technologies that

could improve the direct utilization of biomass could attract the interest of

foundations that deal with poverty in third world countries. Federal or state

agencies could follow.

30

C3. Funding Sources Based on existing research activities are provided by:


2. California Air Resources Board (CARB)

3. California Energy Commission (CEC)

4. CalTrans


6. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)



9. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)



12. National Institute of Health (NIH)


14. Nissan Corporation

15. NOCO Energy Corporation (NOCO)

16. Office of Naval Research (ONR)

17. South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD)

18. Southern California Edison

19. Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP)

20. USC’s FFEI

It is apparent that the funding largely originates from federal and state agencies and

much less from industry. The VSoE is positioned very well within DoD,

especially with AFOSR and to lesser extent with ONR. Interestingly enough there

is no funding from the Army Research Office (ARO). Additionally, the DoE and

EPA funding could be augmented.

Potential industrial targets are the fuel, engine, transportation, and power

generation sectors. Examples are:

1. Airbus

2. Boeing

3. British Petroleum

4. Chevron Texaco

5. Chrysler

6. Coal Industry

7. Exxon Mobil

8. Ford

31

9. General Atomics

10. General Dynamics

11. General Electric

12. General Motors

13. Mazda

14. Nissan

15. Solar Turbines

16. Pratt and Whitney

17. Rolls Royce

18. Toyota

A complete list of energy companies can be also found at:

http://www.globalenergyconnection.ca.gov/tep/jsp/energyDirectory.jsp

Additional funding sources are foundations, such as for example the Bill and

Melinda Gates Foundation, which do not appear to have been effectively targeted

so far in the context of energy.

a white paper on energy and fuels: strengths and voids in

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